Beta Alpha Psi students win national competition

Earlier this month, members of Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), an international honors organization for accounting, finance, and information systems students, converged on Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the national meeting and best practices competition.  College of Business students Brandon Smith, Elizabeth Sivill, Clint Caselman, Zachary Buxton and Tanner Courtney took first place in the Effective Operations category of the national competition.

“I am so proud of our Beta Alpha Psi students.  Having been at countless BAP Best Practice competitions for years and having judged many of them, I know from experience that the competition is very stiff.  These are the best accounting, finance and information students in the country,” states Dr. Stephanie Bryant, dean of the College of Business.

Before advancing to the national competition, the team won first place at the regional competition in St. Louis during the BAP Missouri Valley Regional Meeting in April of 2015.

“This project could not have been completed without the help of our entire team which also included Sam Schriver, Brock Wiberg and Freddie Young… In total, this project took our chapter over 400 hours of hard work. We had several people such as professors and accounting advisory council members provide us with beneficial feedback. Thank you to everyone one who has supported our chapter and our project,” states team member Elizabeth Sivill.

Similar sentiments of teamwork were echoed by Dean Bryant, “This kind of result doesn’t happen without dedicated faculty advisors.  Dr. Carl Keller and Dr. George Schmelzle have provided top-notch leadership to this group for many years.”

The group’s three-part Effective Operations project focuses on improving the BAP student chapter by streamlining communication through the use of online tools including:

• A balanced scorecard used to assign and monitor the progress of tasks for the chapter officers.
• An electronic dashboard allowing members and candidates to see their semester-to-date progress toward completing membership requirements.
• An informational event for members and candidates called BOOTCAMP. The event is designed to introduce candidates to BAP while providing them with valuable information.

The 2015 competition was sponsored by Deloitte.  In order to become a member of Beta Alpha Psi students must attend an AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accredited program, be among the top 35% of their university class or have a 3.25 cumulative GPA.

To view the group’s complete presentation at the 2015 competition click here.

Students excel at national Risk & Insurance Management Challenge competition

Most people spend their lives avoiding risky situations, but some people make a living seeking them out and finding solutions and alternatives to mitigate them. Four Missouri State University business students recently participated in the Spencer-Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) national Risk Management Challenge this spring and placed second overall.

“There were 20 schools participating in the challenge,” said Dr. Stan Adamson, ARM, associate professor of finance and general business and Baker Chair of Insurance. “Each school had to prepare a report analyzing a case study containing a proposal for the risk consulting and brokerage services of The Walt Disney Company.”

The 10-page proposal included identification and assessment of key risks that Disney should focus on, as well as treatment and alternatives for each of those risks. The top eight teams, including Appalachian State University, Butler University, Florida State University, St. Mary’s University, Temple University, Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Georgia, were chosen to attend the 2015 Annual RIMS Conference in New Orleans and present their proposals in front of a panel of judges.

The individual team members—Jennifer Richey, Hillary Rice, Casey Cornelius and Jared Huffman—received a trophy and an individual cash prize for their placement. This is only the second year that MSU has competed in the competition.

“While our students get multiple job offers, this will only increase interest in our risk management and insurance students,” said Adamson. “The insurance industry’s demand is at an all-time high and is expected to hire 400,000 people in the next five years.”

 

MSU Enactus team competes at national exposition

The Missouri State University Enactus team recently placed second in League 9 of the quarter final round of competition at the Enactus National Exposition, held in St. Louis. Missouri State placed in the top 32 teams in the nation.

The team presented four projects: Ice Your Debt, BEEP – Shanghai Inn, Uncap Opportunities for Harmony House and Stand Up, Stand Out workforce development program. Presenters for the team included Erik Stratman, Taylor Via, Rowena Stone, April Weiss, Frank Ulsch, William Stone and Parinya “Pepper” Kiravittaya. Sabrina Peterman and Joshua Dye assisted the team with audio/visual support.

“I am proud of how hard these students have worked to improve the lives of those in the Ozarks,” said College of Business Dean Stephanie Bryant, in a news release. “Their work especially with Harmony House has truly changed lives for the better. Enactus is an example of MSU’s public affairs mission in action.”

National competitions showcase how Enactus students are transforming lives and enabling progress through entrepreneurial action. There were a total of 181 competing teams from throughout the nation. From each national competition one team will be selected to represent their country at Enactus World Cup 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

Finance and General Business students achieve 100% CFA Exam pass rate for second year

For the second year in a row 100% of our finance majors who attempted the Chartered Financial Analyst Level I exam have passed.  Congratulations to each of the three students.

The CFA Level I curriculum culminates in FIN 599/699 during the spring semester, which has been offered as an independent study course.  However, in the spring of 2016, this course will be offered as an online course and will accommodate significantly more students.